An unattended resident of a Stirling care home was left in a distressed state when he could not summon help as his call bell was disconnected.
Stirling Sheriff Court was told last week that the man, in his fifties, had been shouting for assistance without any response.
Fifty-eight-year-old carer Angela Carson had appeared for sentence last Wednesday after admitting ill treatment or wilful neglect under the Health (Scotland) Act 2016.
The offence had occurred between March 26 and 27 last year at the William Simpson Home in Old Plean.
Fiscal depute Sean Isles told Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday that the home caters for a range of health issues.
The complainer had the opportunity to request assistance using a call bell, he said.
Carson had started her shift at 8.30pm on March 26. Mr Isles added that a witness who had gone into the complainer’s room at 6.30am the following day “noticed that his face was bright red and he was in a distressed state.”
The witness also noticed the call system had been unplugged from the wall and the resident “was unhappy and upset as he had been shouting for help”.
The resident’s continence aid was overflowing with urine and his sheet had dried urine stains on it. The witness formed the opinion the resident had been unattended for some time.
The accused had been responsible for the resident “throughout the evening”, Mr Isles said.
Later on, Carson told the witness ‘I’m sorry for the way you found [him] this morning’ and began to cry.
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An investigation took place after which the police were contacted.
Carson’s defence agent told Sheriff Derek Hamilton that his client had a “deep sense of remorse”.
She had worked at care homes for some time, he said. At the time of the offence she had been working 12-hour night shifts.
He added: “She was working constantly throughout the period of Covid-19. During the course of that period of time some people died.
“She herself contracted Covid-19. She is a suspected Long Covid sufferer, but has gone back to work. She continued to work right up until this particular incident.”
Carson had been in to see the resident at 11pm and he was in “a state of disarray”.
She had been cleaning up the floor and during the course of that had disconnected the buzzer.
She thought she had forgotten to reconnect it, but it was found hanging from the wall and the lawyer added: “I don’t think it was reconnected properly.”
The lawyer pointed out: “At some point in the course of the night her normal habit is to go round the unit. Obviously at 6.30am the issue is discovered and causes a great deal of distress to everybody including Miss Carson. She should have popped in. That is what she’s very remorseful about.”
The solicitor also stressed that March 27, 2021, had been the anniversary of the death of Carson’s mother.
Questioned by Sheriff Hamilton, Mr Isles said he only had summary details of the resident’s care plan.
Sheriff Hamilton told Carson and her lawyer that the Crown had to get information from the the care home on what the care regime should have been for the complainer. Only then, he said, could he assess what the failings were and how culpable Carson was in failing to provide appropriate care.
Carson’s not guilty pleas to two further ill treatment charges involving men aged 93 and 76 while a carer at the home on the same date had been accepted by the Crown. Sentence was deferred until today (Wednesday) and Carson, of Falkirk, was ordered to appear.
